"We caught fire in the first and second innings," Newton manager Mark George said. "They players dug me out with their bats after I made a couple of bad calls on the bases. They stepped up, did their job and hit the ball. We had a pretty strong current, and our guys are capable of hitting the ball hard and making it go. We did an excellent job of getting on base. Our guys had excellent approaches — staying with pitches they could hit and laying off those they couldn't. A big key for us is what we did with two strikes.

"It was a very quality game for us in terms of defense, pitching and at the plate."

Newton scored four runs in the top of the first inning on four walks and a three-run Brennan Barger triple.

The Knights opened the second inning with a pair of walks to open a six-run inning. Barger had another three-run triple. Newton scored all of its runs in the first two innings with two outs.

Brogan Owens hit a two-run double with two outs in the third inning.

Andover Central came back with a run on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the third. The Jaguars put runners at second and third with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, but Cole Koerner turned an unassisted double play to end the game.

Barger finished with six RBIs. Owens finished with four RBIs. Jack Kingsley went the distance for Newton, allowing five hits, two walks and three strikeouts.

"They just threw me fast balls," Barger said. "It was pretty cool. We had a rivalry with them all year. We beat them two out of the three times we played them. It's great to beat the no. 1 seed and get to the finals. We didn't know who they would throw. They threw a lefty who we'd seen before. We just had to get our timing down. Once everyone got their timing down, we did pretty good."

Because of the Mid-Kansas Collegiate Qualifier, which starts today at Klein-Scott and the rain out Monday, the championship game will be next door at Kenny Williams Field.

"It has an all-dirt infield," Barger said. "It's faster. It's a smaller field. Other than that, it's the same."

Brock Schaffer took the loss for Central. Andrew Rafferty and Kevin Olney closed out the game.

Tyler Harris had two hits for Central.

"We've got plenty of guys ready to go for game one," George said. "We're sitting in a good position to take advantage in the finals. A lot of credit goes to the staff. Coaches Alex Koerner and Colby Tessendorf did a great job of scouting for me, calling pitches. They are a couple of young coaches helping put us in a position to win. We need to continue to pound the zone, make the routine play and hit the ball."

In the opening game of the day, Salina avenged a no-hit loss to McPherson in the opening round.

Salina scored two runs in the first and two more in the third on a total of seven hits.

Two hits and an error in the bottom of the third led to a McPherson run. Salina answered in the top of the fourth with an RBI double for Jacob Yarochowicz.

Salina loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth, but a 1-2-3 double play and a ground out ended the threat. Three hits, an error and a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth led to three McPherson runs.

McPherson had a single and a walk in the bottom of the seventh, but was unable to score the runners.

Nash Johnson went the distance for Salina, not allowing an earned run, on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Caleb Schmidt took the loss for McPherson, striking out six in five innings. Nelson Steinert pitched the last two innings.

Johnson, Yarochowicz, Jacob Foster and Treton Baird each had two hits for Salina. Tanner Thaxton drove in two runs.

Griffin Myers went two for three for McPherson. Marcus McDaniel went two for four hitting.

In the consolation semifinals, Andover Central took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third on two hits with three walks and a hit batter.

Three hits and an error in the bottom of the inning gave Salina three runs. Jacob Yarochowicz hit a two-run single in the fifth to put Salina in the lead.

Central came back with two runs in the top of the fifth aided by two hit batters and an error.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Salina's Trenton Baird hit an RBI triple and scored on a two-out Tanner Thaxton double. Central went in order in the top of the seventh.

Yarochowicz threw four innings of relief for the win. Yarochowicz and starter Foster each struck out four batters.

Yarochowicz drove in three runs. Yarochowicz, Foster and Baird each had two hits.

Grant Schoonover took the loss for the Jaguars in relief of Kevin Olney. Schaffer went two for three hitting.